m&g midterm one Flashcards
Gender
- gender is not biologically determined by our genitalia
- gender is not a binary construction
- is something that we are taught or learn how to do through our parents, siblings, and friends, as well as through books, TV, movies, the news, and the music we listen to
Gender identity
how a person chooses to identify in terms of gender
cisgender
Gender identification with a gender one was given at birth in accordance with their genitalia
transgender
gender identification with a gender different from the one someone was assigned at birth
genderqueer
Gender identification outside of the gender binary
Gender presentation
how we present/perform/express our gender identification(s) to others; very fluid like gender itself
Gender assignment
the gender given to a person at birth in accordance with their genitalia
Gender attribution
the decision that people make about someone’s gender when they first meet them
Gender role
the ideas of any given society, culture, or community or what people with one gender assignment or another can/should do with their lives, including what kinds of work they can pursue,what they’re good at, what they’re bad at, and who they should interact with and how
Gender norms
social and cultural norms inform our performances of gender
Sex
something that you do with another person
Sexuality
the complex and varied desires one has about who to perform sexual acts with, which acts you to perform, and the ways in which you perform these acts.
Privilege
an unearned socially conferred right, advantage, or immunity available only to a particular person or group of people.
male privilege
lack of discrimination, privilege of free use/care of body
white privilege
ability to ignore race or take their race for granted, privilege of being considered a US citizen…
heterosexual privilege
privilege of showing affection in public, marriage rights
Agency
one’s ability to act in the world, including speaking, making oneself visible, and making one’s presence known
Representation
a depiction of someone or something as being of a certain nature
first wave feminism
1850-1920. Defined by the suffrage movement.
second wave feminism
1960-1970s: Women’s liberation movement
Focused on reproductive rights, equality in the workplace, family and sexuality issues, and domestic violence.
emergence of lesbian feminism and early forays into queer theory.
third wave feminism
1990s to today: critiques second wave for ignoring women of color, and not considering factors such as
race, class, ethnicity, nationality, age…
Emergence of lesbian, queer, gay studies as well as intersectional feminism.
Susan McClary
Published Feminine Endings: Music, Gender and Sexuality.
Focused on system of power that contributed to inequality.
what was Feminine Endings: Music, Gender and Sexuality and what did it argue?
the first book-length text on feminist musicology;
argued for socially and community focused musicology rather than the
previous focus of ethnomusicology.
Musicologists should acknowledge and study of music effects on the body.
Musicologists should reevaluate their musical value system and begin considering music outside of the western art music canon (ex popular music)
Essentialism
innate differences between men and women; set of characteristics that make them the gender that they are.
Timbre
quality of musical sound or voice
Sonata
composition for an instrumental soloist often with a piano accompaniment, typically in several movements with one or more in sonata form.
Schubert
a composer whose music was criticized because he might have been gay
The indigo girls
folk rock band and both women were lesbian and vocal, environmental, and civil rights activists
Hildegard
female composer in Catholic Church who composed chants that were non traditional.
holsinger suggests her music has some homoerotic tones; o virrissima celebrates female fertility; bold and unashamed proximity to the female body
Plainchant
repertoire of music used in Catholic Churches and monasteries from 800-1300 AD
Cistercian reform
limited bodily movement, limited melodic range, focusing on text rather than music
Melismatic
many notes per syllable
Neumatic
approx 1-3 notes per syllable
Disjunct
melodic skip or leap
Conjunct
smooth melodic motion
Syllabic
one note per syllable
Social barriers female composers faced
women’s social roles, lack of access to resources, ideological constructions, criticism and sexual aesthetics
Orientalism
European perspective of a certain culture-specifically about the east (ex: Carmen)
opera-comique
NOT comic opera! often tragedies; speaking and singing; for broader audiences
who composed carmen
Georges Bizet
what genre is carmen
opera-comique
who wrote the libretto for carmen
Henri Meilhac & Ludovic Halevy
origins of carmen?
Based on a novella published by Prosper Merimee in 1845
where and when did carmen premier
1875 in paris
main characters in carmen (3)
Micaela; Don Jose; Carmen
Micäela
Diatonic musical style, symbolized purity and wholesomeness. Represented the european norm
She was represented as timid and very domestic.
Don Jose
corporal
victim of femme fatale – became an outlaw because of Carmen
Carmen
femme fatale character
chromatic, steps outside of normal feminine boundaries
what helped clara schumann get her fame
privileged – had access to musical opportunities that other women of the time didn’t have
who was clara schumann’s spouse
robert schumann
when is it important to think about if clara or robert wrote a piece?
when thinking about agency
describe clara schumann’s “Am Strande”
melancholy
water constant moving
unsettling feeling - nonstop motion, feeling you can’t stop/grasp onto
text from woman’s POV
written by man
problematic when trying to determine agency of woman’s voice
describe clara schumann’s “Lorelei”
virtuosic
more persistent piano accompaniment
piano part was foreboding/ominous trepidation
minor key
written by a woman; woman writing about a woman in this way; spectrum of emotions - gender specific penned women into position on that spectrum
what was robert schumann married to?
clara schumann
robert schumann set of songs
Frauenliebe and Leben
what is Frauenliebe and Leben and its significance
wrote about womyn and her ideas of life. Important because Robert is a man and essentially projects his, along with mainstream male society’s, idealized mindset of a womyn
characteristics of robert schumann’s lieder, Frauenlibe und Leben (texts)
written by male authors but often - about women or speaking about a woman’s perspective
- german romantic tropes: supernatural, nature, folklore
- love, loss, melancholy
- adhere largely to contemporary ideological constructions/representations of women
- examples: “Seit, ich ihn gesehen,” “Er, der Herrlichste von allen,” “Du Ring an meinem Finger”
characteristics of robert schumann’s lieder, Frauenlibe und Leben (music)
- german romantic musical language typical of her husband and many other (male) composers whose music she has played
- uses a variety of song forms, from through-composed, to refrain-oriented, as well as hybrid forms
Castrato
male singer who has been castrated for high vocal register
how did they make a castrato and what did the surgery do
creation was performed under premise of an “accident”
causes larynx to stop growing - full-grown chest cavity (and rest of body - actually usually grew extra tall and large) with underdeveloped larynx gave them a powerful, high pitched voice — looked good on change
why did they prefer male castrato over high female voice
typically had larger range and more powerful vocal abilities than female vocalists whose vocal traits were marked by fragility and vulnerability
homoerotically sexualized male; often played female roles, suggesting homoeroticism
examples of homoeroticism with castratos
If Poppea, a beautiful female character sexually associated with Nero (played by a woman), were played by a castrato → more sensual, triggers imagination
what did the castrato do for gender performance
developed a different kind of gender performance; not fully male, but not female either
musical characteristics of a castrato
high vocal register
large range: 2-3 octaves sometimes!
examples of castrati singers
Farinelli, Moreschi
what is the musical style the castrati were known form
Coluratura
what is coluratura
virtuosic, fast-paced vocal music (“vocal acrobatics”) including trills, runs, ornamentation
who paid for the castrati operation
rich people in the aristocracy (high demand for this type of singers) to develop talent
what caused the rise of castrati
women weren’t allowed to perform and men who sang in falsetto sounded “unnatural”
what did Handel compose
Giulio Cesare
genre of giulio cesare
Opera Seria
gender related characteristics of Giulio Cesare
- showed a preference of high-pitched voices playing male roles (affects gender roles/binaries of society and our perception of the piece)
- Castrato roles and trouser roles used, masculinity seen through high-pitched voices
what did mozart write
Le Nozze di Figaro
where and when did Le Nozze di Figaro premiere
Vienna in 1786
genre and origin of Le Nozze di Figaro
opera buffa
based off a play by Pierre Beaumarchais
who wrote the libretto for Le Nozze di Figaro
Lorenzo da Ponte
characteristics of Le Nozze di Figaro
mixture of high and low voices, no castrati
figaro and count = basses
- susanna, cherubino (travesti), and countess = sopranos
- cherubino is played by a woman, who looks more feminine and has flustered and emotional stereotype of woman, but actually a man — comedy
- smaller parts go to a mixture of tenors, sopranos, and basses
- trying to highlight the issues with class and let the people judge
Opera Buffa
- comic opera
name associated with specific voice type: Basso Buffo - plot usually involves issues of “Class”
- will almost always have a happy ending and almost always a wedding
Opera Seria
- also known as Dramma per musica
- serious subject matter
- subject matter usually Classical or Mythological
- oftentimes employs the super natural (gods, ghosts, etc)
- usually a Tragedy or brought to a happy ending by a benevolent ruler (Deus ex machina)
Da Capo Aria
- from the Italian word for “Air”, - a melodious song that focuses on the performance of emotion.
- indicates specifically the use of A-B-A form ( allowed a lot of improvisation on the singers part to show off virtuosity)
Trouser Role
actress in men’s clothing
Countertenor
male high voice – didn’t want to be called a soprano; different from castrati
Fidelio
- Beethoven’s only attempt at an opera
- rescue opera
- premise is that a wife saves her husband from being imprisoned by government
most famous trouser/disguise roles (wife dresses up as a man to save husband and is a man almost the whole opera)
Farinelli
a well known castrati
Le Nozze de Figaro (Marriage of Figaro)
opera by Mozart in 1786
opera buffa
cornerstone of standard operatic repertoire
plot = continuation of The Barber of Seville many years later
cherubino
role usually played by a mezzo soprano
character in Marriage of Figaro
Disguise Role
- disguising oneself usually for a comic purpose
- takes place within the plot
Richard Strauss
German composer
known for Salome
Salome
mad scene
Mad scenes
- enactment of insanity in an opera/play (opera in this context)
- usually comprised of soprano voices
- generally denoted as a female plot point
- viewed as a spectacle by the other characters as well as by the audience
- McClary compares it to a contained spectacle
musical representations of madness
- soprano voices
- has to be a powerful, strong voice
- might not necessarily have a melody behind it
- requires a certain level of virtuosity to control a musical portrayal of “madness”
Lucia di Lammermoor
- tragic opera by Gaetano Donizetti
- based on the novel The Bride of Lammermoor
- concerns Lucia, who’s caught in a feud between her family and the Ravenswoods
Diamanda Galas
- avant garde composer, vocalist, pianist, organist, performance artist, and painter
- mentioned by McClary in ch. 4 from Feminine Endings
Queen of the Night
- sings the second aria from Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute
- piece is often known as Queen of the Night’s Aria
- piece depicts a vengeful rage in which the Queen forces her daughter, Pamina, to assassinate Sarastro, the Queen’s rival
- demanding piece to perform
- requires a range of at least two octaves
Rage aria
type of aria
Coloratura
elaborate ornamentation of a vocal melody, especially in operatic singing by a soprano
Double aria form (La Solita Forma)
formal design of scenes found during the bel canto era
general framing of melodramatic scenes, especially duets
tempo d’attaca and tempo di mezzo are portions within the double aria form
Tempo d’attaca
- opening portion of a larger scene within an opera
- refers to rhythm → how fast it is
- beginning portion
- easing into a scene
- static motion
Tempo di mezzo
- middle portion of a larger scene
- tempo picks up a little bit during this section
- i.e. Lucia goes a little crazier at this point than she was before
- portion can be delineated by change in tempo, force, etc.
Cavatina
- framed as a recognizable song at the end of segment of an opera
- takes place at the climax of a plot point
- ex. Lucia’s mad scene
- The Flower Song has elements of this as well
- can be two characters
Cabaletta
two part form often found in 19th century Italian opera arias
hero myth
the male hero starts a journey and overcomes. Relates to the sonata form. Overcoming the feminine theme.
pearl jam
ignores intonation, tonality and meter. Rougher sounds for men.
Beethoven
late 18th century - early 19th. the tortured genius, romanticism. Uses the heroic journey in his music. He was seen and assessed as being very manly. Strong and dominant sounds and adhered to form (sonata form)
Italian Romanticism
representation of violence on stage
fascination with supernatural/unknown
symbol from two types of musical material: static and kinetic
Scotland represented as the “Other” place, helpful in understanding Lucia
Lucia di Lammermoor
rage aria
the tradition of giving scorn female characters a chance to be virtuosic with a high range, while also expressing her anger, etc; “precursor” to the mad scene which gets codified later in the 19th and early 20th centuries. e.g. Queen of the Night aria from Mozart’s Magic Flute.
sonata form
exposition (introduce character) —> development —> recapitulation (return home)—> coda
exposition of a sonata
1st theme = in the main key of the piece (tonic)
sets up the setting of the piece
2nd theme = in a contrasting key from the 1st theme
if piece is major, contrasting is dominant V
if minor, contrast is relative major
basically just far away
these themes tend to be stylistically contrasting
closing in the same theme as 2nd and provides a transition back to the first
development of a sonata
not as well defined as exposition
consists of bits and pieces of both themes in expo
moves all over the place key wise — sense of harmonic stability is undermined
sense of wandering, being on a journey, searching
recapitulation of a sonata
return to music of expo
1st theme
same as before, but with slight changes but more or less same key and musical material
2nd theme
melodic material is often the same, but sig harminic change - key changes to match 1st theme
closing theme
